1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically and quickly forming electrode heads on an electrode plate group of a horizontal battery.
2. The Prior Arts
The conventional sealed lead-acid batteries have the following shortcomings:    (1) The gird is made by pouring molten lead ingots into a mold, and however, material consumption is relatively high by using this process.    (2) If the electrode plates are vertically arranged, the electrolyte stratification will occur.    (3) The electrode plates are secured in place by the fixing rods disposed on the two sides of the electrolysis tank, and however, the active substances of the electrode plates easily drop off due to impact and vibration.    (4) The manufacturing processes involve repeatedly drying and maturing steps so that it requires a longer period to complete the processes, and the longer period delays the capital flow and increases the waiting period of the products in the market.    (5) The grid is made of solid lead alloy, and the lead ingots for the proper series and/or parallel connections of the electrodes are required, and thereby material consumption is relatively high.    (6) Lead vapor is released in the process of melting lead ingots, which can pollute the environment when ventilation is not adequate.    (7) The ratio of the energy output of a battery to its weight (33 wh/kg) is low, and the battery cycle life is only about 300 cycles due to the anti-vibration structure of the battery, and the battery charge time is too long which requires about 6 to 8 hours.
The horizontal lead-acid batteries are developed for improving the shortcomings of the conventional vertical batteries. Strings of glass fiber are wrapped into a core of a horizontally lead-acid battery, and a layer of lead alloy is coated on the outside of the core by cold extrusion to form a lead string. The lead strings are then woven into a lead grid. A new lead paste is produced without the maturity stage, and the positive electrode and the negative electrode lead pastes are respectively coated on the lead grid according to the desired battery structure. In order to secure the active substances on the electrode plates, a sheet of specific paper is attached to the two sides of the electrode plate, and then dried and wrapped with the specific fine glass cottons, and then the electrode plates are assembled and used in a lead acid battery. The lead acid battery is then sealed, followed by filling acid, forming, filling curing agent, cleaning and packing. After that, the process for manufacturing the horizontal lead acid battery is completed.
Because the electrode plates are horizontally arranged, the concentration polarization, which is due to the concentration difference which develop at the anode and cathode during electrolysis, can be eliminated, and the concentration polarization is one of the main reasons why the capacity and the lifetime of the batteries are reduced.
The internal resistance of the horizontal lead acid batteries is small because the positive and negative electrodes are directly in contact with each other so that the active substance can be used uniformly. The lead ingots used for connecting batteries in parallel are saved. The high current electrical discharge and voltage drop become small.
The lead net replaces the conventional grid so that the weight of the batteries is reduced, and the material consumption is relatively low. The ratio of the energy output of a battery to its weight (40 wh/kg) is greatly increased, and the charge acceptance of lead acid battery is increased so that the charging time is shortened.
Because the lead net has good tensile strength, the active substances on the electrode plates can allow large strain deformation, and thereby the battery cycle life is increased.
The positive electrode head and the negative electrode head are disposed on two ends of the electrode plate group of the horizontal battery by casting. In the conventional method, the electrode plate groups are moved to the casting machine manually, and the first electrode head is formed on one end of the electrode plate group, and the electrode plate group is then rotated to another direction, and then the second electrode head is formed on another end of the electrode plate group. However, the volume and the weight of the horizontal batteries are larger and heavier than those of the conventional vertical lead acid batteries, so that the efficiency of operation is low.